Best Patent Cases 2016 Australia

Published on 08 Feb, 2017

Welcome to Shelston IP’s round-up of the best patent cases from Australia delivered during 2016.

It was a busy year for Australian patent jurisprudence. Here we report on 11 decisions delivered by the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia, 7 significant decisions delivered by single judges of the Federal Court of Australia and 2 significant decisions of the Australian Patent Office. As always, there are many examples of issues arising in claim construction, novelty, inventive step, innovative step, fair basis, priority dates and infringement. Less typical issues which received significant attention included the requirements to qualify as an exclusive licensee with standing to sue, patentees’ obligations to sufficiently describe their inventions including the best method known at filing, applications to re-open validity proceedings based on allegedly deficient discovery and estoppels relating to withdrawal of admissions.

The Snapshots section is designed to assist readers in navigating this publication and identifying cases of particular interest.

Please click hereto access the report and do not hesitate to contact any of the authors if you are interested in learning more.